Fashion Design and Production

The Fashion Design & Production Diploma curriculum is designed to provide context and mimic the real-world fashion industry.

Courses are delivered through a combination of instructional activities including, but not limited to, interactive lectures, practical labs, demonstrations, guest speakers, videos, team activities, production simulations, computer labs, field trips, and work experience. To support the development of motivation and self-discipline, some of the theoretical and technical aspects of the program involve independent learning components.

The Fashion Design and Production program is committed to the following embedded values:

1. Respect Others

• Creating inclusive learning experiences that accommodate diverse learning styles and needs, ensuring accessibility for all students.
• Recognizing and integrating Indigenous ways of knowing and being in the curriculum, as a step towards truth and reconciliation.
• Being mindful of biases in all forms. Striving to create an equitable and inclusive environment by challenging stereotypes and promoting diverse perspectives.
• Co-creating a supportive and respectful learning space that encourages mutual respect, accountability, and a sense of belonging

2. Honour Earth

• Empowering the next generation of merchandisers with the skills to consider environmental impacts and an attitude that is waste conscious, respects the entire lifecycle of a product, and knows the importance of mindful consumption and production.
• Valuing relationship building with the more than human world and selling clothing that considers future generations.

3. Value Self

• Becoming who you are meant to be as a merchandiser; allowing full expression of personal style, tastes, and preferences.
• Being conscious and aware of our own thoughts and feelings, without judging, and staying open to new experiences.
• Working mindfully with an appreciation of the deep connection between your vision, the energy of the materials, the hands that make the clothes, and the spirit of the wearer.
• Celebrating and honouring your cultural identity, and the history of making in your life, family or heritage.

Students and instructors are expected to strive toward these values.

• Program activities involve extended periods in fixed positions and repetitive hand, wrist, and arm movements, such as assembling or using specialized tools.

• Program tasks require precise hand-eye coordination and dexterity. Activities may include detailed assembly, intricate cutting or decorating, and small-scale technical work requiring steady hand movements.

• Program environment includes regular exposure to industrial grade machinery that may be loud, may vibrate and give off heat.  

• With appropriate safety protocols, the program environment may involve exposure to chemical products and strong odors. Students may also work with solvents and adhesives used in sewing and surface design environments.

• Program environment involves regular exposure to airborne fabric particles.

• Program involves physical contact with models during fittings.

• Program tasks may involve high-pressure situations requiring quick decision-making, time-sensitive task completion, and sustained focus such as a photo shoot and fashion show. 

• Some elements of the program are self-paced, requiring students to manage their own study schedule and assignment completion.

• Program tasks require access to a modern computer capable of running Microsoft Windows with full privileges. Required hardware consists of at least a quad-core processor and 16GB of RAM and 256GB storage, in order to complete assignments or connect to the lab computers remotely. 

• Online courses require audio/video hardware including webcam, speakers and microphone